Thank you Aimee and Fun with Catch lights!

So you remember that picture of Brynn under the tree and she looked as dark as night? Well my friend Aimee fixed it for me:


And whats better is she showed me HOW! And I got a perfect picture to try it out on:
Before


After

I am very pleased, and it really didnt require alot of editing at all!
So, thank you Aimee! Your instructions ROCKED!

And here is a picture that required no editing (or at least I didn't do any)....We were having dinner at the table and Audrey was observing and Audrey had the most beautiful catchlights (lights reflected in the eyes), so I grabbed my camera. I do think I had my Apeture a little low which is why her ears are out of focus, but that okay, its still a really cute pic, if I do say so myself *wink*

But since I *am* still learning photoshop, I thought I would try out one of my actions:
I got a whole bunch of free ones here I think they would work on PS and PSE.
This is a black and white conversion with a touch of chocolate!

The Mother of a Daddies Girl.

Its painful at times.

I have come to the realization as my roll in my girls lives take shape. Its a sad thing, but I have become.....a mother...a rule enforcer, a rule creator, the punisher, the mean-old-mommy-that-wont-let-her-kid-sleep-with-a-sippy-cup or -stay-up-late-if-shes-tired.

Brynn is a daddies girl. And I love that. Trust me, as someone who had virtually no relationship with her father from like 8th grade on, I am MORE than pleased that my girls have a daddy who is so in love with them and wants to play with them and be apart of everymoment of their lives. But at the same time, sometimes Daddy being the "fun one" leaves me no choice but to be the "Evil One"

I hate being the evil one, but Chad just....doesnt get it. Brynn will be like standing their crying from being tired, exhausted...and what she needs is simple: SLEEP! But thats a difficult task to complete when she is tired, and in my world, that means: get in bed, I dont care if your crying, I dont care if your whining...my job is to ensure you get addequate rest and the only solution to this issue is to get you to bed.

To Chad, he likes the long goodbye...if she is standing their crying from overtiredness, he will offer her to snuggle on the couch and watch TV....um: WTF? Get her ass in bed and to sleep.

Lately, when chad is home, brynn wants nothing to do with me, she doesnt want me dressing her, bathing her, feeding her, touching her...hell, she doesnt even want me looking at her. And it hurts my feelings. I know its not personal....but it still freakin hurts... And I know its because I dont back down as easy as Chad, because I know its good for her.

Toddlers are tough. They really are.

Beautiful Day, Horrible Pictures.

This weekend we had GORGEOUS weather, and I mean GORGEOUS! Its really starting to feel like spring here, I even busted out some shorts (um, yeah, not so pretty)and sipped on a diet coke while chad worked in the yard.

This weekend my work had their annual Easter Party for employees and their children. Complete with the Easter bunny, arts and crafts, airbrush tatoos, cookies decorating, and an egg hunt.

We had a great time, its always nice to see coworkers with their families and talk about things other than GPW, UEPR, DAC, TL&F, DCC, EBUB (dont you love it?)

It was such a beaufitul day, and we had such a great time. But when I got home and saw the pictures, I was nothing but disappointed. And I think there are a few lessons to be learned.


1) Since it was such a beautiful day, all of my pictures came out completly washed out in the full sun. Next time, I need to find a place in the shade with the same background, do you see how Brynn looks okay and I just look too bright? The subjects in this picture are just out of balance, and accountants hate that *wink*
lesson 1.2: SUCK IT IN KRISTIN!



2) i am not really sure what I would do to fix this one...I think I used the flash, but it was just too bright around the tree so the shade is just too dark...its such a cute pic, but I just dont know...


3) I think another major problem I have is Brynn, she has such a gorgeous face, but all of my pics are of her hair or the back of her head. I think I need to position myself toward her face...although that is contantly changing


This one is cute, but it would have been better if I got ahead of them.


Here is another example, it would have been so cute with her face...but I couldnt exactly roll around in the grass in front of everyone to get a better shot ya know?

Lifes Simple Pleasures

my life is so hectic and fast paced at the moment. I swear from the moment I get up in the morning I am GO GO GO! Its non-stop, and when I get home from work I say good bye to my coworkers and head off to my 2nd job (mommy) at home and its still just non stop until I lay down in bed at night.

I always really try to make sure to stop and enjoy lifes little pleasures and think of some things as fun little moments rather than a "chore"

for example, when I am changing Audreys daiper, I really do take pleasure in it (when its just pee) because it forces me to stop running around the house like a crazed hyeina and have some one on one time with Audrey talking to her and tickling her belly.

When I am reading books to brynn before bed, sometimes I feel the urge to rush through it so i can put her to bed and take off my "mommy" name tag for the night and just relax. But I try to rememeber that these are the moments I will look back on fondly and long for when my girls are older and want nothing to do with me.

But then there are those simple pleasures I only get in a blue moon that are just heaven to me. One I am doing right now. I LOVE to wake up on a weekend morning, before anyone else is awake. So the whole downstairs is clean and quite and motionless. I make my coffee, I sit on the couch under a blanket and watch the news in peace. I dont have a toddler whining for Elmo I dont have my boob out to nurse, I dont have my husband doing whatever he does that grinds my gears so early in the morning. Its just me, and my coffee. Heaven.

Five.

I was standing in line getting a Latte at work on Wednesday and the Barrista asked me how old my Baby is now. I started to answer "Four Months" until I realized what the date was March 25th! Holy Crap! Not only is she FIVE months old, I totally went through the whole day of 3/24 without once realizing it was her 5 month birthday...and for those who dont know me, that is very much unlike me. I am usually all over dates and birthdates (even the monthly ones)...that is a perfect example of just HOW crazy life has been for our family lately.



My sweet Audrey is Five Months old, hard to believe its already been 5 months, yet, hard to believe there was ever a time that she hasn't been in our lives. I just can't say enough how happy I am to have BOTH of my girls filling my house and my life with happiness, laughter, and endless joy (and maybe a few meltdowns here and there)



This month Audrey continues to blossom into a happy, outgoing little one. She is so quick to smile at anyone that will stop to say hello. She has developed this cute "baby talk", but everything she says sounds like she is shrieking in delight as if she is trying to say "YEEEEEAAHHH!!!!"



As you see from this picture above, she has a new accessory: a hair clip! This girls hair is out.of.control. Chad and I are always cracking up because her hair on the top of her head literaly stands straight up most of the time. I can't imagine how curly its going to be when she gets older, and with Brynn we made the mistake of never putting anything in her hair, and now she refuses to let us put anything in her hair, so I am starting as early as possible with Ms. Audrey so she will get used to it.

We have NOT started any foods yet. She is going to have to stick to the Boobie Juice for just one more month. There are a few reasons we waited, prob the biggest being I am not looking forward to having to deal with spoon feeding her, nursing is just too easy and convenient for me.



Lets see, whats new with Audrey. Well, she is sitting for longer periods, she has started scooting but only in her sleep so we will find her in all kinds of arrangements in her co-sleeper.

She LOVES the water. Loves loves loves. I can't wait to take her to Maui (ONE MORE MONTH!) and take her in the ocean!

She also likes to roll all over the place, She loves her excersaucer, loves checking out the trees, peoples faces, the dog.

She had her first Cold/Flu, poor girl, so we have had a rough couple of weeks here sleep wise, but she seems to be back on track the last couple of nights. We set up the pack n play in Brynns room, which will mean at some point we will want Audrey sleeping there, but I just don't see how that will work logistically. But its okay, everything will fall into place.

My little Tripoder!

So, Audrey has been sitting for longer and longer lengths of time as her abs get stronger...and by longer lengths of time I mean like 30-60 seconds! Super exciting! Its hard to tell from this picture, but she is, in fact, sitting unsupported here. I think this picture is so cute, but the fact that her head and her cute little booty is cut off is driving me bonkers! I digress



Here she is checking out baby Taz with her new and improved view of the world. It must be an interesting for a baby to be able to sit up right unsupported....quite a different perspective on the world than what they have been used to.

Audrey is very intersted in baby Taz and what she has to sing, although I must say, Baby Taz has seen better days. You see, we have had her since before Brynn was born, so her little batteries are dieing so when she sings or talks, she sounds like an old lady who spent her life with a cigarette in one hand, glass of scotch in the other....who would have thought?

I thought I would be mourning at each new milestone, because when your baby making days are over, every first is a last in a way. For example, I bagged up Audrey 3-6 month clothes today and it makes me so sad that I will never have a baby to fill those little clothes with again. But for some reason, the milestones are still super exciting, and I am looking forward to the next milestone: getting up on those hands and knees!

But I am not, however ready to move Audrey into her own bed full time...even though we set up a bed for Audrey in Brynns room...I think it will be awhile, because I know that once she is in there, she wont be back and I will miss that snuggly baby time in our room/bed.

Expensive Hobby...

So I recently decided to put a *little* bit of money into my photography Habit -er I mean Hobby.
I knew it wouldnt be cheap, but you know what...its a rare occasion that I spend money on myself. Seriously its true!

I can't think of the last time I bought new clothes for myself, dont get my nails done, dont get my hair did. For me, doing something nice for myself is a latte a couple times a week. So when my bonus came in from work and I decided to get something for myself.

In total I spent *big gulp* $700 to upgrade my lens, my flash, and purchase photoshop elements 7 (yay for costco coupons!) Now I have to say that it is EASY to spend way more than that on upgrades, so actually I made out pretty good. But I still got that guilt factor that the money should have gone to something for the girls, or savings, or a new toilet or something (we really do need a new toilet) But Chad said that I have to remind myself that the investment in pictures really is something for the girls because they will have these pictures when they grow up, and they will be high quality pictures!

Anyways, I spent the day playing with Photoshop....actually, I spent the day taking care of Audrey who has the Flu :-( but I did spend sometime learning about elements here are my results....the third one is SOOC (Straight out of Camera), no editing, but I thought it was perfect just the way it was!

I got my new lens!

After much debating and going back and forth and googling and boy oh boy chad was driving me bonkers telling me what HE thought I should get and he would change his mind everyother day...I finally jumped in with both feet and got this one so far, even thought I havent quiet mastered it, I love it! It is so fast to focus and does awesome in our low-light-central town home.



I brought it home and shot this beautiful shot:
its okay, I anticipate a learning curve!

Then I took the girls for a walk. We went out onto the path behind our house, it was a warm gorgeous afternoon and I figured it would entertain an already whiny Brynn for at least a little bit.

of course within minutes down the trail, Brynn gives the 3-alarm "poopoo" call and I have to rush back: Audrey in the sling, Brynn in my arms, and my new expensive camera lense swinging in the air. Oh, what a sight. But the good news is we made it on time! Last time Chad wasnt so lucky...

So back to the trail we headed...the sun was starting to set it was gorgeous! I still have a LOOOOONG way to go, but I am please with my new lens and look forward to really learning how to work it.

Where my 20-somethings at?

I was sitting in a conference today and I was concentrating deeply on the P&C Trends for 2008/9 and suddenly, I looked around the room and a realization came over me: I was the youngest person in this room. Not only that, most of the people in this room graduated high school (or college) when I was born.

That brought on a question: Where my 20-somethings at?

oh, for those who don't know I am an Finance Analyst in Controllers Accounting at an insurance company. okay and I admit that my job prob isn't the most glamorous position out there that 20-somethings to seek out, and its not the kind of job you can get with any'ol degree, its a pretty specialized field, so you would have wanted to be in the field from College.

I have been at my job for about three years now I was 24 when I got the job and here I am three years later and I am STILL the youngest there. I can't explain it in words, its just a strange thing sometimes I feel like a child in a sea of adults. I keep waiting for them to hire more people in my age group, whats going to happen when the older crowd retires, all of that experience based knowledge in their brains go with them...now THAT is a scary thought...who would I go to with questions? Insurance accounting is an ugly beast.

I actually don't like to tell people how old I am sometime because they make a big hoopla about how young I am and what they were doing when THEY were 27, oh and how I was sperm when THEY were 27. Sometimes I wonder if I look old or something because people sometimes seemed shocked at my age.

I don't know where I was going with this...I thought once I started typing it would take shape, but I guess not. Its just interesting corporate observations that's all! Feel free to forget you ever read this...

Happy St Patricks Day!!!!!

 

Never Freakin Fails.

okay...please join me in my pitty party! Come on in!

There are always THREE things that happen right before I get sick, that tell me that I am about to have a craptastic cold or flu or whatever. These three things never fail to alert me that an illness is on its way. And they usually go in this order:

1) My milk supply dips a few days before the symptoms show. I think this is because my body is using resources to try to fight the coming illness so it results in less milk. Don't worry, I am STILL over producing by about 5oz a day, so its nothing to be concerned about.

2) Sore throat. EVERY illness I get starts with a sore throat. Its the weirdest thing. I swear, I could be about to break my leg and the back of my throat will get all tender.

3) The worst possible time to get sick. I always get sick when it couldn't be more inconvenient for life. Like it cant wait for a slow period at work it has to be when I have a major FRICKIN deadline at work or big frickin meeting or I have a fun trip to Tahoe planned for the Weekend. In this case, its all three....

Never Frickin Fails...but here I am at work XL Latte, Hair unbrushed with a scrunchie, bags under eyes from being up all night sick and taking Care of Audrey (Trust me, I look HOT) hoping no one notices and I can just chug through my day and go home and get in bed.


Wha! I am tired/exhausted/pissedoffattheworld I wanna hug and a nice bed without a baby in need. BLA!

testing...

DSC_0604-3
Originally uploaded by onbeingmommy

I am testing out flikr at the moment...

PS: Ain't she Purdy?

photo shoot.

I love photography...but not because I am good at it, its because I WISH I was good at it, like my friend Aimee

And if anyone knows me (both online or In Real Life) they know I take a crap load of pictures....don't believe me? Here is a screen shot of my photo albums and the number of photos in each from Picasa.



See! The proof is in the puddin. "Hi, my name is Kristin and I am a shutter-holic" ..... "Hi, Kristin"

you would *think* that because I have had so much practice, that all my pictures would be just beautiful...but that is just not the case...why? well, for one thing, I don't usually take the time to make the most out of my Nikon D40 and I just point and shoot shoot shoot shoot. If there is something cute going on, I don't have time to think about lighting and aspeture, and background, shadows, so I take about 40 in a row or something and hope there is a good one in there. Another reason, I think is because I have yet to invest in some quality photo editing software...I just use Picasa (hey, its free *wink*)

But every once in awhile, I will bust out my camera for the purpose of taking pictures just like a good ol fashioned photo shoot and will get some pics I can feel proud of.

This afternoon in our gorgeous weather, Chad was at the auto parts store and so I took the girls outside to take advantage of the great lighting and take some pics.




Most of my pictures are of Audrey because a busy toddler is far too difficult to take pictures of. Most of the pictures are of the back of Brynns head, or like 1/8th of her face because she is trying to turn away, or she is talking, or whining. The funny thing is if you bust out the video camera...she is a total ham...I guess she is bound to be an actress rather than a model. *sigh*




Even Audrey was a bit of a challenge since she now knows how to roll...she has decided that that is all she wants to do IS roll. I don't remember Brynn going from first roll to like always rolling so quickly...but its amazing how quickly these memories fade.



Here is one of my favorites of Brynn...I tricked her ...she was sitting down minding her own business eating her yogurt, and I snuck up above her and said "HEY!" lol! Iam so mean.







I love this picture...it captures Audrey's personality perfectly. She is such a happy girl, with crazy hair...seriously, I cant keep her hair DOWN its like permanent straight up! Shes got some Einstein crazy fro going on, Chad and I still don't know where our girls got their curls...genes are so funny....I digress.


This one of Brynn I did the sneak approach again and I said "Brynn! and AIRPLANE!!!" --in my defense, there really was an airplane...lol!


hope you liked my pics!

Here comes the sun...

For the last two weeks, it has been POURING rain and no sun, just icky weather. And when it gets like that in our area, folks get squirly real fast...can't imagine what we would do if we lived like in Buffalo NY or something like that.

So yesterday, the first day of absolutely beautiful weather, we went to the Zoo...and by Zoo I mean local play ground...but it looked like a zoo! I swear, everyone and their neighbor decided to take their kiddos to the park.

But it was a good kind of busy. The kids where all of similar age and size and taking turns, it was really the BEST day ever! We have some of the best parks in our area, and Brynn is now the perfect age where she is old enough and skilled enough to cruise the structures on her own, so we didn't have to follow her too closely. She had a blast! Audrey enjoyed being out in the fresh air checking out all the kids running around like wild monkeys.

Downer Post...

Sorry, just have to spit this out. Don't read if you don't want to

in the last week, I have had a few friends have losses in their life. One of my friends mother passed away, she was very old and lived a long, happy life and passed away peacefully of old age.

The other 2 friends, lost someone they loved so much, yet never had a chance to meet. It breaks my heart when little lives end before they begin. And it just makes me sad and kind of put things in perspective for me.

I look at my little girls and feel so incredibly lucky that they are here and in my life. Rarely do we realize how easily things could have been different for us...and there is nowhere else I want to be but here.

So, all you mommies out there, which I am pretty sure is all of my 10 or so readers...go home and give your babies extra cuddles tonight. Sorry if I bummed you out, its just on my mind and I wanted to get it out...

Note to self

stay out of Target...just don't do it, stay away, don't go in, don't even look at it. If you cant control yourself, you have lost your Target Privileges.

Seriously, I walk in the door and $85 instantly gets deducted from my checking account.

I HAVE A PROBLEM!

Ode to Audrey

Perfection.